


First Date

by ani725



Series: First Date [2]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Adorable, Angst, Fluff, M/M, Non-Graphic Rape/Non-Con, Non-Graphic Violence, Romance, Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-01
Updated: 2014-08-24
Packaged: 2018-01-21 13:51:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 11
Words: 17,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1552727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ani725/pseuds/ani725
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It started as a confession, and turned into a full blown relationship. Explore the lives of Derek Morgan and Spencer Reid as they deal with cases, love and life. Morgan/Reid slash. (Non-graphic rape and non-graphic violence are depicted in later chapters as part of a case.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. First Date

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Criminal Minds.
> 
> I wrote up a little oneshot (also up on here, titled Confession if you wish to check it out) and it was only supposed to be that little bit of fluff, but I had a few people asking me to continue it so I started this. When I finally started putting my fics up here I meant to put this one up too, but I never got to it. I figured now that I finally updated it, it was about time I got it up on here.
> 
> I hope you enjoy and please be sure to stay tuned until the end. Definitely be sure to let me know what you think of it.

Dinner had been perfect. Everything was delicious, they were in this wonderful little restaurant right up the street from Reid's apartment. He'd never actually been there but he passed it a lot. Finally he'd went in. There he was sitting across the table from the most gorgeous guy he'd ever known and not only were they having dinner together but it was a date…and his date felt the same way.

Reid was in heaven. He looked over at Morgan and smiled nervously. They had finished eating and had just ordered their dessert.

After a moment of silence their dessert appeared and Reid eagerly grabbed his fork, digging into his chocolate cake.

"You really love chocolate cake don't you?" Morgan asked with a smirk.

Reid chewed slowly and blushed lightly. After swallowing his bite he said, "Yeah. My Mom used to make it for my birthday."

"That's cool. You just seemed really eager to eat that cake. What're you in such a rush for anyway? What, you got a hot date tonight or something?" Morgan said smirking again.

Reid replied, attempting humor, "Yes, actually I do."

Morgan shook his head and laughed. "You really are something kid. You know that's actually a pretty good answer. First good line I've heard on a date in a while. Then again this is the first date I've had in a while."

"Don't worry. It's probably been longer since I've been on a date. I think the last one I had was probably my last year of college for my first degree."

"Which was when? Like a month ago?" Morgan laughed at the look Reid gave him.

"I'm not that young."

"I know. It was just to good an opportunity."

By now they had both finished their desserts and received the bill.

Morgan snatched it away before Reid could grab it. "I asked you so I got this. Go on out to the car and wait for me, I'll drop you off."

He walked off before Reid could protest and say that he could walk home fine, (which he'd have still done outside the restaurant) before he noticed that it was now raining out.

And Reid hated walking in the rain without an umbrella.

Reluctantly he got up from the table and walked outside, took a breath and bolted for the car.

Jumping in he shook drops from his hair and off his coat as Morgan jumped in next to him.

"Where did that rain come from?" Reid asked as Morgan started the car.

"You know they were calling for rain all week right?"

"Really? I must've missed that…"

Morgan just shook his head and pulled out of the parking lot. After a few minutes they pulled up outside of Reid's apartment building and Morgan parked the car.

"Ok, well thanks for dinner. I had a really great time. I'll see you-"

"There you go in a rush again." Morgan cut him off.

"Sorry. Just I'm kind of nervous. Like I said I haven't been on a date in a while and those didn't go too well."

"Don't worry. Things will be just fine between us." Morgan told him assuredly.

He leaned over and gave a quick kiss to a slightly stunned Reid.

"Hey…would you um…Would ahh…would-"

"Yes I'd love to come up to your place."

Reid blushed. "Just to talk more and just until the rain stops."

Morgan smiled and opened the door. "For now anyway."

Raindrops began to fall harder and all Reid could think was that it was going to be a very long night…but in a good way.

 


	2. What's Next?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Criminal Minds.

He was on his way upstairs with him. Morgan was following him upstairs to his apartment.

"What's going to happen next?" Reid thought as he took out his keys to unlock the door. His heart was pounding as he fumbled with his keys in the lock and dropped them.

Morgan grabbed them before Reid even noticed they weren't in his had anymore.

"If you're worried I'm gonna try and jump your bones, don't worry, I'm not that kind of girl." Morgan smiled as he joked and opened the door letting Reid enter first. Reid laughed nervously stepping into his place and taking back his keys. Morgan walked behind him into the kitchen and sat down.

"What makes you think I'm nervous about anything happening?" Reid said opening the fridge and trying to find something to serve. "Would coffee be okay? I don't have much else…"

"Yeah coffee is fine. And to answer your question its because one, you've been quiet since we got out of the car, two you dropped your keys and now your not even paying attention to the fact that you just put about eight scoops of grounds into the coffeemaker."

Reid looked down at the filter and realized he was right. Damn it he was nervous.

He picked up the entire filter and threw it away. "Okay so you're right. I am nervous. It's just that I haven't been in a situation like this in even longer that it's been since I've had a date. Which is saying a lot."

Morgan took over making the coffee because Reid seemed to have abandoned the task.

As the smell of coffee filled the air Morgan joined Reid at the table and faced him.

"So you're saying it's been a while since you've had sex?"

Reid blushed and sputtered, "Wh-what…No…Well I mean…well…"

Morgan laughed. "Calm down pretty boy. It's kind of cute that you're so shy about it."

Reid turned even redder.

"So how long has it been?" Morgan asked bluntly.

The question didn't catch him quite so off guard this time because he figured it was coming.

"Okay so it's been like seven years but it's not a big deal."

"Dude, seriously seven years? I will give you credit. I was sort of expecting it but still…seven years. I am impressed."

"Don't be. It's not like I had any real choice in the matter." Reid got up and made their coffee. He handed Morgan his cup and motioned for him to follow to the living room. They sat on the couch Reid continued, "I mean if I really tried I probably could have had sex, but it just wasn't something I found extremely important."

"You know Reid, you are different from anyone else I know. And I like that." Morgan sat his cup on the coffee table and moved over next to Reid. "Sex isn't what you want, so what is it that you want from a relationship?"

Reid sat in silence with Morgan looking at him.

He thought. If sex wasn't the important thing he was looking for (and it wasn't and never had been for him ever) then what was?

After what seemed an eternity Reid looked up and into Morgan's eyes.

"I guess…When I was younger, right after my dad left all I had was Mom. And that was fine because I had someone to love and hold me. I guess that's really all I want. Someone who will love and care for me. Who will hold me and just be a comfort. I've never really found anyone who I thought could give me any of that, except for you. So, yeah that's what I want. Just someone who'll be with me."

Morgan listened and stared at Reid while he thought out an answer.

"That makes sense." Morgan took Reid's cup and set it on the table next to his. "And since that makes sense then I guess you picked the right person because it's not quite as much as I want right now, but it's good enough." He leaned forward and kissed Reid just as he had in the car and pulled him close.

Reid took his cue and snuggled up close to him.

"So this is what's next…" Reid said quietly to himself.

"What?" Morgan asked moving his hand lower down Reid's side.

Reid grabbed and pulled his hand back up. "Nothing."


	3. A Dog's New Friend

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Criminal Minds.

It had been a week since that first date. They just got back after another case and Morgan was going to take him out once they got settled.

"Hey kid, why don't you come to my place and I'll make you something to eat." Morgan asked.

Reid blushed lightly. "Sure. Do you just want me to meet you there?"

"Why don't we head over to your apartment so you can drop your stuff off and I'll take you to my place from there? I can drop you off later."

"Yeah. That's sounds great."

"All right. Let me know when you're ready to go. Oh and how are you with dogs?"

"I'm all right; I don't usually deal with them though. What kind of dog do you have?" Reid wondered. Morgan had never mentioned anything about having a pet before.

"His name's Clooney and he's just a mutt. I got him a few years ago from the pound. He's just a sweetheart.""He sounds it. I can't wait to meet him." Reid put away the files he'd had with him and grabbed the new files that he would need.

"Ok. I'm ready to go." Reid said as he walked over to Morgan's desk."Where are you guys going?" J.J. asked, overhearing Reid.

Morgan thought up an excuse quicker than Reid did and answered J.J. "We were gonna go out for a drink."

"Oh, let me grab Prentiss and we'll join you guys." she smiled and went to find Prentiss.

Reid looked at Morgan. "What do we do now?"

"Go have a couple of drinks with them I guess. It's not like we could say we were having dinner at my house." Morgan told him quietly.

"I know but still...We can just have dinner after a few drinks then." Reid sighed and Morgan smiled at him.

Prentiss and J.J. walked up to the two guys. "You two ready to go?" J.J. asked.

Reid nodded and Morgan grabbed his coat as the four of them walked to the elevator. As the doors closed, Prentiss looked over at Reid and said, "Wait, I didn't think you drank."

Reid coughed into his hand and glanced at Morgan before looking at Prentiss and answering. "I don't."

"Hm." Prentiss sounded.

~X~

A half hour after arriving, Morgan managed to fake a call about something being wrong with Clooney, therefore meaning he and subsequently Reid, since they came in the same car, had to leave immediately.

Morgan and Reid got in the car and made their way to Morgan's apartment.

Once in the door Reid was attacked, meaning almost licked to death, by a brown and white, medium sized dog named Clooney.

"Look at this. I'm not home for a week and I'm replaced by a guy you've never even met." Morgan scoffed at the dog as he turned away from licking Reid to death. The dog barked happily as he seemed to realize his master was home.

Soon Clooney had eaten and the smell of roast chicken and potatoes filled the space. When the food was done and both men had eaten their fill they laid on the couch much as they had the week before at Reid's place. Of course this time there was a dog lying on Reid's legs.

"Reid...can I ask you something?" Morgan looked down at the almost asleep man in his arms.

"Go ahead." Reid said sleepily.

"You said that no one you found could give you the same thing your Mom gave you. Just someone to be there with you and for you. No one but me. I just wanted to know why me?"Reid frowned as he tried to think. "I'm not sure. That or I'm just too tired to think."

"Let me get you home." Morgan scooted Clooney off the couch and helped Reid sit up.

"Actually, would you mind if I slept here? I'm just beat. This last case was terrible." Reid asked tiredly.

Morgan leaned over and kissed Reid deeply, Reid being too tired to really do anything about it.

"Of course. Let me go grab you a blanket. C'mon Clooney, time for bed." The dog ran over and curled up on his dog bed. Morgan walked over to the closet and grabbed a light blanket.

By the time he walked back to Reid, he was fast asleep. Morgan laid the blanket on him and planted a kiss on his head, whispering in his ear before heading to bed, "Goodnight kid. Sweet dreams."

Once Morgan had safely gone to bed Clooney jumped right back up with Reid.

Apparently the dog loved Reid just as much as Morgan did.


	4. Sleeping Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still don't own Criminal Minds.

"I'm not sleeping with Reid." Morgan told everyone when it was discovered that they would have to bunk two to a room. They had been called to Alaska to a small town about two weeks after Reid had met Clooney. Since then, they'd had no time alone together, so when Morgan said it, Reid looked at him with confusion and hurt.

Why wouldn't he want to sleep in the same room? Was it because maybe he didn't want to sleep with Reid so being in the same room overnight would be too weird?

"I call dibs." Garcia said and grabbed Morgan's hand.

~X~

Half an hour later everything was settled for the night and he was set to bunk with Rossi.

"Hey, I'm going to go grab a drink before heading to bed." he told Rossi. He had to speak with Derek and find out why he hadn't wanted to bunk with him.

"All right. I'd tell you not to get lost, but it is you we'd be talking about, and you can see the kitchen door from our room."

"The inn isn't that small." Reid said momentarily confused.

"Sorry, bad joke. Don't be too long though." Rossi said before Reid walked down the hall.

Standing in front of Morgan and Garcia's room, Reid knocked a moment Garcia answered the door. "Reid, what can I help you with?"

"Actually, is Morgan busy?" Garcia knew they were dating so there wasn't much to hide from her."Yeah sweetie he just got out of the shower." Reid raised an eyebrow at her knowledge of the wet and naked Morgan and she corrected herself. "I mean he just shut the water off a few minutes ago, so I assumed he just got out."

As soon as Garcia was done speaking it, Morgan walked out of the bathroom dressed in a t-shirt and sweatpants.

"See." Garcia said. Looking from Morgan to Reid and back, she said to the both of them, "I'll leave you two alone. Don't do anything while I'm gone." Reid blushed lightly and Morgan laughed."What's up kid?" Morgan looked at Reid still smiling.

Reid looked at the floor and quietly said, "I wish you'd stop calling me that."

"Huh? I didn't hear what you said." Morgan took a step closer.

"I said I wish you'd stop calling me 'kid'." Reid looked into Morgan's eyes and he could tell something else was wrong.

"I'm sorry Reid. That's not really why you're here though, is it?"

Reid looked back at the floor. "No it's not. I just wanted to know why you didn't want to share a room with me."

"Why do you love me?" Morgan asked back without missing a beat.

"What?" Reid looked up. "Where'd that come from?"

"I asked you two weeks ago, that night you stayed at my place, and you said you either didn't know why or were too tired to think of why."

"I'm sorry. I honestly don't remember you asking, which tells you how tired I was."

"So why do you love me? Why is it you think I'm the only one that can give you the companion you want?"

Reid stood and looked at Morgan in silence for a minute. "I..."

"Don't even tell me you don't know." Morgan sounded upset.

"I wasn't going to. I'm trying to figure out how to word it." Reid paused a moment longer and continued. "I guess...no, I know it's because you're kind and smart. You have a soothing quality about you I can't really describe. No matter what kind of case we're working I know as long as you're somewhere working on it I'll be fine. I know that if something ever happened to me, you'd be the first one to check on me and see how I'm doing. Even if we weren't dating. You're the soul of the team." Morgan looked at Reid and walked over to him. He put his hands over Reid's and placed his forehead against his boyfriends.

"That was the most ridiculous answer ever. But, it'll work for me. Unfortunately, though, we have to settle with the arrangements now." he leaned the last few inches and took Reid's lips.

Pulling away, only enough they could see each other, Reid looked into Morgan's eyes and chuckled.

"What?" Morgan asked curiously.

"Was that why you didn't want to bunk with me?" Reid asked.

"Yeah." Reid laughed again and Morgan stepped away frowning. "I think it's a perfectly good reason. Especially since we're on a case. This isn't a time for personal matters."

"No, no it's not that. I thought you didn't wanna bunk with me because you didn't wanna sleep with me."

"Really?" Morgan laughed with Reid a moment before pulling him in to kiss. Lips touched and molded to each other.

Breaking away, Morgan asked, "Why would you possibly think that. And why are you the one thinking about sex? Didn't you say it wasn't all that important to you?"

Reid looked at his love. "Well I know you were abused in the past so I thought maybe sex with another guy might scare you a little. And yes I did say that, but I love you and part of that love is physically. So I've been thinking it over the last week or so. Have you been thinking about it?"

Morgan smiled foxily and purred, "Firstly, my past doesn't bother me anymore, and secondly you are too cute not to think about having sex with." Morgan leaned into Reid and mouths pressed, tongues massaging and hands feeling everything.

Reid began breathing heavily as Morgan sucked at a spot on his collarbone, having unbuttoned the top two buttons on his shirt.

A knock sounded on the door and both men looked up.

Morgan calmed his breath a little and called out, "Who is it?"

"Rossi. Firstly you can tell Garcia that Kevin's on the phone downstairs."Garcia walked out and looked at the two men standing in the room. Quietly she joked, "Didn't I say don't do anything?" She laughed and opened the door just as Rossi continued."Secondly have you..." Rossi stopped when he saw the object of his next question standing in the room.

"Oh. Never mind then, there you are."

Reid stammered as he realized he'd been gone nearly twenty minutes and so Rossi had gone looking for him. "I was down getting a drink and was on my way back when I realized that I had meant to ask Morgan how Clooney was doing and he ended up telling me this really funny story about him getting into the garbage the other night." Reid hoped it was a good cover. Rossi's face told him it wasn't Rossi wasn't going to ask. He'd taken one look at Reid's slightly flushed face and that he and Morgan were both breathing heavier than normal and put two and two together. After all he'd been young once too.

"I'm heading to bed. I suggest you do the same."

Rossi turned and walked away. What the two of them did in their free time was none of his business, but they were on a case right now, even if it was bedtime and no one was working.

Garcia had slipped out the door as soon as Reid had started giving his excuse, leaving Morgan and Reid alone again.

Reid kissed Morgan quick and headed towards the open door. When he reached the doorway he looked back at his boyfriend. "He's right. It's late and we should head to bed now. Our own beds." He corrected himself at the look Morgan had given him at his word choice. "We can pick up where we left off when we get home." Reid blew a quick kiss to Morgan and shut the door, leaving the man laughing at the silly gesture.

Reid walked down the hallway not noticing that Hotch had come up the steps just as the kiss had been blown.

Hotch stopped in his tracks and stared in bewilderment for a moment. Wasn't that Morgan and Garcia's room? But Garcia was downstairs so that meant...

Reid had blown a kiss to Morgan?

He was gonna have to talk with Garcia when he got the chance...


	5. Tonight I'm Loving You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Criminal Minds? Not mine.
> 
> Also, there is deliciously slashly smut in this chapter. You may either enjoy it or skip it. It's up to you.

"For some reason this last case seemed to take forever to figure out." J.J. said on the plane ride home.

Morgan sat next to Garcia. "Are you sure you're ok baby girl?"

She took an easy breath. "Yeah, I'll be fine."

"As long as you believe you'll be ok." Morgan sighed.

~X~

"You ready to go?" Reid asked Morgan. They had landed an hour earlier and were going to head back to Reid's house.

"Yeah." Morgan grabbed his coat and they headed towards the elevators.

"Hey are you all right?" Reid wondered.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Morgan looked at him as the elevator doors closed.

"You're just really quiet. I care and I just want to know you're ok. And don't lie, please."

Morgan sighed and stepped from the elevator. "I'm just really worried about Garcia. It's tough to see someone die right in front of you, right in your arms. Especially for someone like Garcia. She told me that she was afraid of losing herself because of this job." Morgan turned away from Reid and walked towards his car.

Reid took a deep breath and walked towards his own car. He whispered, "That doesn't mean you need to lose yourself worrying for her."

~X~

Five days later...

The phone rang and Garcia answered the phone. "Hello, this is Penelope Garcia."

"Hey baby girl, how are you doing?" Morgan's deep voice could be heard through the phone.

"Well Mr. Hottie, I'm fine. Really, you can stop calling me now. I think Kevin's kind of getting suspicious that something's going on."

Morgan laughed. "Good old Garcia. You know if I didn't have Reid he might have something to worry about."

Garcia smiled. "How are things between you going? And by that I mean have you picked up where you left off at the inn? Wait, of course you have. Tell me everything."

"Slow down baby girl. Firstly, I wouldn't tell you what happened because I know how your mind works. Secondly, I haven't talked to Reid about it since we got back. I've been too worried about you."

Garcia practically screamed, "What!" before calming down and talking normally. "Morgan you haven't said anything about it since we got back? Because you're worried for me? I told you I'm fine. I'll get past it; I'm not made of glass. I won't break the second you turn your back. You told me that because I see the beauty in the world I'd be fine and you're right. Kevin told me the same thing." She took a breath. "Besides, think of how Reid must feel. I don't know how far things got but he's a shy guy so imagine things going towards sex and then just getting blown off and having them be ignored for five days. Poor guy."

Morgan was silent a moment. "Oh God, you're right. You know the last thing I told him not work related was that I was worried about you?"

"Oh honey..." Garcia couldn't believe him sometimes. He blew off and practically ignored his boyfriend for five days because she, a friend, was shaken up. It was one thing to do nothing further than whatever had happened, but to completely ignore that anything had happened? That was something else entirely. "I want you to call him right now. Go to his place and apologize, do something. You made sure that I was all right. Now go make sure he's all right."

"You're right, Garcia. I'll call later and tell you how things go." Morgan hung up and Garcia smirked as she set her phone down.

'Actually if things go well I won't hear from you until tomorrow...'

~X~

Morgan had called him half an hour ago and should be arriving any-

The doorbell sounded, telling Reid that his boyfriend had arrived. He stood and walked to the door. Morgan had sounded anxious on the phone and Reid didn't know what to expect. He opened the door and looked at Morgan. He smiled and said, "Come in."

Morgan stepped inside but instead of moving past Reid he stepped towards him, leaning in to kiss the lips he missed. Reid blushed lightly at the suddenness of it and after a moment Morgan stepped into his apartment, shutting the door behind him.

"Spencer...I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for ignoring you the last few days."

Reid looked momentarily confused. "You haven't ignored me."

"About us having sex. I know that I've been worried about Garcia but I shouldn't have acted like nothing else mattered."

Reid shook his head. "It's ok. I know how much you care about her."

"No it's not. We should have talked this over. I completely ignored it and you. Please let me make it up to you."

"How?" Reid asked.

"Like this." Morgan stepped forward and took Reid in his arms. He pulled him onto the couch and kissed him leaning the younger man back.

Morgan undid a button as lips and tongues picked up where they had left off. He kissed his way down Reid's neck undoing more buttons as his lips reached a faint mark on his love's collarbone.

"I gave you a hickey?" Morgan asked surprised and kissed it before moving to a spot right next to it, moving his tongue in little circle's.

Reid's breath hitched at the touch and he answered, "Yeah. I found it the next morning." Reid swallowed loudly as Morgan moved his hand to his waistband and started to undo his belt. "Oh God." Morgan trailed his fingers across Reid's lower stomach as he pulled the man's pants down and over his hips and legs, exposing plain black boxers.

Reid pulled Morgan's mouth back up to his and tugged his jacket and shirt off. Tongues rubbed as Reid ran his hands over a well muscled chest and stomach. Oh how long he'd waited for this. Yeah, sex wasn't a super important thing for him, but that didn't mean he didn't dream about it. He was still a guy after all.

Reid's hands tugged at the button and zipper on Morgan's jeans and ran his hands along a very nice ass that he'd been staring at for months now as both men were down to the smallest amount of clothing possible.

Reid moaned into Morgan's mouth and looked into his eyes. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

Morgan rubbed his erection against Reid's creating glorious friction and answered. "Absolutely. Do you have any lube or something I can use?" Amidst everything Reid still managed to blush.

"Um, yeah, this way." Both men stood and walked into what Morgan discovered to be the bedroom. Reid leaned over suggestively, digging through his bedside drawer and pulling out a small tube. He handed it to Morgan who smiled wolfishly and gently pulled Reid onto the bed.

Morgan pulled his own boxers down and stepped out of them before tracing his fingers down Reid's sides pulling his boxers down and away as well.

Morgan leaned forward, kneeling in front of Reid and lightly licked the head of Reid's cock as he applied lube to his fingers.

Reid's moans became a gasp as a slick finger entered him, arching his back and pushing said finger farther in. He bit his lip as Morgan pushed and pulled his finger in and out of Reid's hole. At a small sound from Reid he stopped.

"Let me know if I hurt you." Concern clouded his voice.

"Don't...don't stop...please." Reid said between pants.

Morgan resumed and smiled when Reid moaned loud as a second finger was added. Soon Reid nearly cried out in pleasure as Morgan's fingers ran over his prostate.

Lube was rubbed onto Morgan's cock as he slicked himself up, quickly removing his fingers from Reid. He pulled Reid's legs up around his waist and pushed his head through the still somewhat tight entrance before him, causing him to groan.

Reid moaned loudly rubbing his hips against his love's cock and gripping the sheets tightly. Morgan made his way deeper making Reid moan louder. Once he was fully sheathed he pulled out.

"Say my name Spencer." Morgan breathed hard as he teased the hole he'd just been in.

"Oh Derek...yes, please." Reid's voice was quiet but he'd heard what he'd wanted and Morgan pushed all the way back in making Reid scream in joy.

He continued pulling out and thrusting gently in, keeping a tight hold on Reid's knees, as Reid pushed his hips down onto him.

Reid squeezed the sheets and panted and moaned loudly. God, this is what he'd been living without? How?

Minutes of pleasure went by, thrusts being slow but deep. Eventually Morgan quickened the pace as his breathing became quicker. Pressure was building for both men, they could feel it.

Reid shifted his hips and shivered when Morgan hit his prostate. Morgan kept at this spot moving faster and faster feeling tension build.

When Reid thought he couldn't take it anymore the tension in his lower stomach finally sprung open and a cry of pleasure overtook him as he came. He tightened around Morgan's shaft allowing him to come as well.

Shivers and waves ran through them both as they gripped each other tight. Morgan collapsed next to his boyfriend on the bed.

Reid grabbed the sheet from under them to clean himself up with. Once the task was done he tossed the sheet to the side and curled up with a now exhausted boyfriend.

Morgan smiled down at the younger man. "You're a bit of a screamer."

"I swear it's only because it's with you." Reid would've blushed if he hadn't been so tired. He nuzzled into Morgan's neck and Morgan grabbed the blanket to cover them up with. Reid soon fell asleep and Morgan knew he wouldn't be far behind.

He could call Garcia in the morning...

~X~

"This is Penelope Garcia. I'm not available at the moment. Please leave your name and number and I'll get back to you." BEEP.

"Hey baby girl, just an update, Reid forgave me. He didn't even consider it as being ignored. Call me when you get this." Morgan hung up the phone.

~X~

"This is Penelope Garcia. I'm not available at the moment. Please leave your name and number and I'll get back to you." BEEP.

"Garcia, this is Hotchner, call me when you get this. I saw something odd the other day and after discussing it with Rossi he told me there was something going on between Morgan and Reid, and I was hoping you could clarify."

~X~

Garcia checked her messages as soon as she got back from the store. The first one was promising; the second one not so much.

She called Morgan back later that afternoon. When he answered, she practically shouted in his ear, "Ok so I know you two had sex last night, that's why you didn't call me, but Hotch knows you're dating."

"Calm down. Are you sure?" Morgan asked after moving the phone back to his ear.

"He said that he talked with Rossi and Rossi said there was something going on between you two." Garcia said, calmer now.

"Have you talked with him?"

"No, he left me a voicemail like you did and wanted me to call him back when I got his message." Morgan thought she sounded concerned.

"It's ok baby girl. Don't worry. Call him back and tell him that Reid and I'll talk to him ourselves."

"Ok. I believe he called me from the office."

"Thanks baby girl. Tell him we'll be there soon."

Garcia sighed. "Ok."

Morgan hung up his phone and looked at Reid. "We gotta go talk with Hotch. He knows about us."

Reid looked down at the floor and back up at Morgan. "Ok."


	6. Decision

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me? Own Criminal Minds? In my dreams.

Hotch sat at his desk filling out paperwork. He'd received a phone call from Garcia telling him that Reid and Morgan were on their way to see him about twenty minutes earlier. A knock sounded on his door.

“Come in.” he called and the two men he was just thinking of walked in. Reid walked in after Morgan did and shut the door behind him. “Please sit.” He instructed them both.

He cleared his throat and told the both of them “I heard from Rossi that there was something going on between the two of you. From his impression I got that it was something of a personal nature.”

“I'm not quite sure what you mean...” Morgan answered. Reid remained quiet.

“I only asked because I saw something from what I believe was between the two of you on the case we had a few weeks ago when we were in Alaska.” He looked over at Reid. “I saw you leaving from Morgan and Garcia's room. Now I know that Garcia was downstairs at the time leaving only Morgan in the room and I also saw you blow a kiss to whomever it was in the room.”

Morgan and Reid looked at each other.

Reid looked back to Hotch and replied “I did blow a kiss in to Morgan. And it is true that there is something going on between Morgan and myself.”

Morgan picked up where Reid left off. “We've been seeing each other for the last couple of weeks.”

“I know that it's against federal policy but you're both very good profilers and other than policy there isn't a reason you shouldn't get the chance to be together.”

Morgan's eyes went wide with shock for a split second. “That's all? We're together and that's it, even though it's against policy?”

Hotch looked at Morgan a moment and said slowly, “No, that's not all.” He set his pen down and clasped his hands together. “I won't say or do anything to stop you two unless I feel that it will get in the way of a case. Both of you can go.” Hotch picked up his pen to continue with his paperwork.

Morgan and Reid stood hesitantly and started towards the door. Morgan reached out for the door handle when Hotch said, “Oh and one more thing.”  
Both men turned around. “No one outside the team and your personal lives that you trust is to know.”

“Ok.” Morgan said as the two of them left.

~~

The two of them exited the building. They walked back to Morgans car and once inside Reid heaved a sigh of relief. “I don't believe it. We completely break FBI protocol and as long as it doesn't get in the way it doesn't matter.”

“And this is why Hotch is the best.” Morgan said leaning over to give Reid a kiss. Morgan ran his hands through short brown hair and a purr came from the younger man.

“Mmm,” Morgan pulled back and Reid looked into his eyes and smiled. “You know,” Reid took a deep breath and continued, “I don't really want to ruin this exciting moment, but I think I need to tell you something.”

Morgan chuckled and said “I hope your not pregnant.”

“That's physically impossible.” Reid said seriously.

“It was a joke, Spence. Anyway what was it that you wanted to say?” Morgan asked.

“Hotch brought up about Alaska and I needed to tell you something about it. I know I told you that you hadn't really ignored me and that it didn't really bother me, but in truth it did. I know that Garcia means a lot to you, she means a lot to all of us, but...I don't know, I guess it just made me jealous. You were paying all this attention to her and not me and so then when you apologized I thought I could just forget it, but in truth I can't and it really hurt.” Morgan leaned back in his seat and watched Reid as he continued. “I was trying to think of how to bring it up when Garcia called and said Hotch wanted to see us and then he brought it up himself, so I just figured now would be the best time to tell you.”

Morgan sat in silence for a moment just looking at Reid, who kept his head down eyes and averted away. Finally Morgan spoke. “That's more like the reaction I was expecting when I said that I was sorry.” He reached over and lifted Reid's chin up so his boyfriend was looking right at him. “I'll say the same thing I said then. I'm so beyond sorry, and that's not how I should have acted. I realize that now. So let me make it up to you.”

Reid smiled and nodded. “Thanks.”

“It's ok. We've both had screw-ups so far in this relationship, so let's work on not having too many more. Now why don't we go for lunch?”

“Sure.”

~~

It was Valentine's Day and Morgan had something very sweet planned. He picked Reid up on the premise of going to a movie and surprised Reid with more than just that.

The walked out of the movie theater and Morgan grabbed Reid's hand, dragging him in the opposite direction of the car.

“Where are we going?” Reid asked confused.

“You'll see.” Morgan told him with a smirk on his face.

Five minutes and three blocks later they were in front of a small, cozy restaurant called The Turtle Dove. Morgan opened the door for Reid and they walked in. The front room contained a few chairs and a podium for the hostess to sit behind. Morgan walked up to the young girl sitting there and told her that he had a table reserved for two. She looked down at her register and upon seeing what was written she looked up at the two men and smiled.

“Yes of course, Mr. Morgan, please follow me.” she told them. Morgan turned around and smiling at Reid, motioned for him to follow.

The young brunette hostess sat the two of them at a quiet table nestled in a corner next to the window with a gorgeous view of the Valentine's decorations and displays in the nearby shop windows.

“The waiter will be over in just a moment to take your order.” she smiled and placed a couple of menus in front of them and leaving.

“Derek, this is amazing. How'd you even find this place? I know I've never heard of it.” Reid told the older man.

“Not surprising. A friend of mine owns the place. He only opened it up a few years ago; still calls it the best kept secret for romance in town.” The waiter walked over and asked what they would like to get to drink. Both decided on coffee and the waiter walked away.

“So why did you bring me here?” Reid asked.

“What? I can't treat you to a delicious meal to celebrate Valentine's Day?” Morgan chuckled.

“Oh, yeah that is today. Did you know that the holiday was actually first established by Pope Gelasius I honoring one or possibly more early Christian martyrs named Valentinus?” Reid smiled mildly and nodded his head while Morgan just sighed and shook his head.

“Leave it to you Spence to bring up facts at a time when I'm trying to be all romantic.”

Their coffee arrived and both men gave their orders to the waiter. Small talk ensued after he had walked away and in around twenty minutes their food had arrived.

Reid picked up his fork as did Morgan both continued to chat about what was new with the people they knew and with those they worked with. Food slowly vanished during the few quiet moments and as the plates became more visible Reid discovered that this little detour after the movie was a very good idea.

Morgan set his fork down, all the food on his plate finally gone. He looked up at Reid, who had been silent the last few minutes and asked, “So did you have a good evening?”

Reid blushed a little and quietly replied looking into Morgan's eyes, “I was maybe kind of hoping that it wasn't over yet.”

“Oh don't worry, it's still just getting started.” Morgan smirked slyly and called the waiter over. The man leaned down and Morgan whispered something into his ear. The waiter nodded once and walked away.

“What did you just tell him?” Reid was curious. Morgan was acting oddly.

“You'll see once he comes back.” After a minute the waiter walked back over to the table with a small chocolate cake covered with white frosting. Written on top in red icing was 'Happy Valentine's Day, Spence!'

“Derek, really? You got me a cake?”

“Uh-uh, not just any cake. Chocolate cake.”

Reid looked intently on the cake. “Well...it is chocolate cake after all...maybe just a little piece.” The waiter set a knife down next to the cake so that Reid would be able to cut his own slice and after cutting a piece nearly half the size of the cake itself he set it on the little plate with it and motioned for Morgan to have some too.

Morgan cut off a significantly smaller piece and took a bite.

“Mmmm...” Reid practically purred. “This cake is so good.” He took another large bite and chewed slowly so that he could savor every morsel and crumb of it.

Morgan was having a hard time concentrating on...well concentrating on anything at the moment actually. Reid finished his piece of cake and looked down at Morgan's hardly touched piece. Morgan shoved it across the table before Reid could even ask. He'd do just about anything to see that face on his boyfriend again. God, this was just about as good as sex, if that was possible.

Once Reid was finally finished, Morgan, having asked for a takeout container for the tiny piece of cake still left so that it could make its way home, he got the check and paid. Still sitting at the table he looked at a very satiated looking Reid.

“Don't look so content just yet. I still have one more thing to give you.” Morgan told him and reached into his coat pocket.

Reid looked at him as he was handed a flat, square-shaped box. “What is it?” he asked as he shook it gently.

“Open it already.” Morgan said leaning forward.

Pulling the ribbon and the lid off of the box, Reid found himself looking at an oddly shaped black mask. His face lit up like a kid's on Christmas morning. “Oh man, is this what I think it is?”

“Probably. Go on, lift the mask.”

Reid reached into the box and lifted the likeness of Darth Vader up releasing the sound of breathing through the black mask and four shiny and colored coins. “I can't believe you got me these, I didn't even realize that they'd come out yet.”

“Well they have. I know that you're a big Star Wars fan and I came across these and knew that you'd love them. It's not often that you find $2 coins. But finding commemorative Star Wars $2 coins? That was just about as priceless as you are.”

Reid looked into Morgan's eyes and smiled.

“Happy Valentine's Day, Spence.”

“You too Derek.” He closed the case and set the open box on the table. “So...do you want to head home?”

Morgan smirked and nodded his head. “Your place or mine?”

Reid thought it over a moment. They both knew that their night was far from over. Finally he answered. “Surprise me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> At the time I wrote this, the coins that Morgan gives to Reid were real and available for sale. I don't know if there are any still on the retail market.


	7. The End (Part 1)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Criminal Minds.

Morgan stood there staring at the board they had set up. How had they let this happen. How had _he_ let this happen.

Again.

Morgan shook his head and slammed his fist onto the table in front of him. If anything happened to Reid he'd never forgive himself.

That was the moment he realized that nothing else mattered. The moment he realized that he'd do **anything** to get him back safe and sound.

_Seven days earlier_

Morgan laid in bed next to a sleepy brunette. It had been a long, very pleasing night and it was way to early in the morning to be hearing the phone. But unfortunately the phone was indeed ringing.

Morgan half attempted to get up when the answering machine got it. He heard a deep male voice saying something but couldn't make the words out through the fuzziness of his brain.

“Remind me not to let Garcia take us to that bar again.” he told Reid groggily.

Reid groaned into the pillow agreeing with his boyfriend.

A shrill ringing came from the bedside table causing Morgan to groan. “Since that's your phone and not mine, I'm guessing that we have a case. Well come on pretty boy, let's get up. I'll make the coffee.”

Reid mumbled an 'ok' and Morgan stood up to walk away, nearly falling over. “Seriously though,” he said steadying himself, “Never let Garcia take us out again.”

“What did I drink last night? My head is pounding...” Reid told him. He stood and grabbed his pants from off the floor as Morgan slowly made his way to the kitchen.

After listening to the message left by Hotch, Morgan called down the hallway, “You had three piña colada's.”

“Seriously? Three?” the brunette walked into the kitchen and looked at his boyfriend. “I can tell that I don't drink. Ever.” Reid, not one to normally drink discovered that he did indeed love the taste of a piña colada.

“Please don't shout.” Morgan asked kindly pressing his forehead against the freezer door.

“I'm not. I'm barely talking above a whisper cause even that's too loud for me.”

Morgan groaned loudly. He walked back over to the coffee pot and grabbed one of the mugs that Reid had just set down. Pouring the dark liquid into his mug he took sip and grimaced. He didn't care for black coffee but he needed it full strength to clear his head.

“So who was the message from?” Reid asked taking his own mug.

Morgan, who didn't really feel like talking merely pointed to the answering machine, indicating Reid should just play the message himself.

An automated voice came from the machine. _“You have one old message. First old message. Thursday, 8:25 AM.”_

Hotch's voice continued where the other one ended. _“Morgan, we just received a case. Be here for 9:30.”_

“Hm. Straight to the point this morning. Apparently he's not doing to well either.” Reid commented when the message was over.

They had finished a week long case the day before and had just gotten home when Reid and Morgan announced that they were seeing each other. Garcia then offered to take them out to celebrate. All but JJ had been able to make it, as she had to go home and relieve her other of the baby.

Once the two men were ready they left Morgan's home to head in to work.

~X~

Morgan and Reid walked into the conference room. JJ, Emily and Rossi were sitting at the table and Hotch had yet to arrive. Both men took a seat and looked over to Emily who had her head down.

JJ looked around the room at everyone. “So who had the most to drink last night?”

Emily turned her head to the side and looked up at JJ. “I don't even remember how much I had...”

“I think you did have the most Emily, but I think my hangover is worse than yours. I don't ever drink so it affected me more.” Reid told the two of them. JJ laughed and the others nodded.

Hotch walked in with Garcia and she handed out the case file folders.

“Good morning my chickadees. I know it was a long night, but just bear with me. We have a case out in a small town called Glenn's Peak in Colorado. Six murders in a little over six weeks. All men, all effeminate, and all...” Garcia's voice broke as she stared at her report. No matter how many times so gave out the details of these cases, each one was always tough. She continued, “All beaten, raped and with their throats slit.”

She brought the pictures up on screen, each of the morgue photos with a picture of the victim before the crime took place. Morgan commented “Each of these men have been beaten beyond recognition.”

“They all had to be identified through dental records.” Garcia replied to him.

“Is there anything else besides being effeminate that these men all have in common?” Hotch questioned.

Prentiss answered looking through her case file. “None that the local police could find. Different income levels, different job areas – some worked in town, some in the next town over – some of them shopped at the same stores, others only lived in town and did everything elsewhere. Other than looks there is nothing that connects these men to each other.”

“And local police have no idea who it could be doing this?” Hotch asked.

“None at all.” Garcia answered.

“We leave at once.” Hotch closed his case file, stood and walked from the conference room.

-x-

The plane ride to Colorado was filled with talk and discussion over the case. Once there, the team split up to go over the various crime scenes and to start interviewing the families of the deceased.

-x-

Three days later, there was no new information added to the case.

-x-

By the fourth day there, another body had been discovered.

-x-

Reid walked into his hotel room. They'd been here for five days already. After the discovery of a new body they'd been able to narrow down the suspect area, which considering the size of the town shouldn't have been very hard. From everything that they could figure out about this perp he was either a genius or just extremely lucky.

And considering Reid believed in statistics and probabilities rather than luck, the man was obviously smart. From what they could profile about him, he was highly intelligent; cold and calculating. Whatever had set this psychopath off was obviously something that reminded him of some sort of major trauma in his younger years.

As for appearance, about the only thing they could deduce was that he was taller. Probably either thin or skinnier, but definitely still had the upper body strength to take down men who were probably about his same size.

Reid sat on the bed thinking all of this over and going over some more of the details of the victims. A knock sounded on the door. He stood and answered it.

“Hey, can I come in?” Morgan asked him.

“Of course.” Reid's boyfriend walked into the room and he shut the door behind him. Both sat down on the bed. “Any specific reason for the late night visit?”

Morgan was silent for a moment. “Spence, I've been thinking. You need to be really careful on this case.”  
Reid looked at Morgan. “What do you mean?”

Morgan smirked. “You know, I don't know if you've noticed this, but you kind of fit the victim profile.” Reid looked confused a moment before Morgan continued. “There's a reason I always used to call you 'pretty boy'. You have kind of feminine features.” He smiled gently at the younger man. “Don't worry though. I'll protect you no matter what happens.”

Reid leaned over and gave his boyfriend a quick kiss. “I know you will.”


	8. The End (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I probably could have put parts 1 and 2 together, but oh well. Enjoy.

_He watched the man standing at the bar._

_The place was full of women and men mingling together. Drink in hand the man walked over to a young brunette girl standing at the bar. Her friends had just walked away, leaving the guy the perfect opportunity._

_The man walked over and cleared his throat before talking to her. “Have we met somewhere before?”_

_The brunette smiled at him and giggled. “Not that I know of.”_

“ _Are you positive?”_

“ _Yeah, she said she doesn't know you. Now get lost you fucking fairy!” said the taller man that had walked up behind the guy._

“ _Josh!” she scolded him, giving the tall man a name._

“ _No, it's alright, really. I'll leave you alone.” the guy told her and walked away._

_He walked right over to where he'd been sitting. The one who'd watched all of it happen._

_After a minute of silence he leaned over. “So that happen to you a lot? Getting called a fairy?”_

_The man in question looked down into his drink. He had slightly longer hair, just past his ears, and a thinner more feminine face. His eyes were pale blue and he was smaller in stature, both of which added to a more female look to the man._

_All of which made him the perfect next victim._

_The man laughed bitterly. “More than you would think.”_

“ _Is it true?” he wondered._

“ _No, not even close. I'm Matt.” he told the man asking him questions._

“ _Hi Matt, I'm Jimmy. You know I used to be like you.”  
Matt scoffed as he looked Jimmy over. “I highly doubt that dude. I mean look at you! You're built, great hair...I mean seriously, you look like you just walked out of, like a Calvin Klein ad or something.”_

_Jimmy laughed. “No I'm serious. You wouldn't believe what a couple nights at the gym every week for a few months can do for you. Physically and mentally. I can show you if you want.”_

_Matt leaned back in his seat and looked at him suspiciously. “And why would you do that?”_

“ _Because I like helping people.” He smiled at Matt._

_Matt just laughed and nodded. Jimmy moved over a table so he was sitting with Matt and the two continued talking for a while._

_Finally Jimmy looked at his watch. “Oh, hey I gotta get going.” He wrote something on a slip of paper and handed it over. “Here's my number, call me when your ready to start over.” He smiled and walked away, leaving Matt by himself so he could finish setting up his trap._

-x-

_Matt walked out of the bar. After Jimmy left he'd had another couple of drinks before finally calling it a night himself. He made it out into the parking lot when a figure walked in front of him_

_He looked at the man blearily. Being slightly drunk it took him a moment to recognize his new friend. “J-Jimm-my.” he managed to stutter out._

_Jimmy's only response was to walk forward and knock Matt out cold._

-x-x-

Reid walked up to the bulletin board. “I think I found our next victim.” He hung a picture up next to the others and put a question mark next to it.

Hotch looked at the picture. “Why do you think he's next?”

“He fits the profile and he's been missing for three days.”

“So if our unsub took him and he keeps to his timetable then he has 72 hours.”

A moment of silence covered the room.

Reid stood, staring at the victims. Morgan stood staring at Reid, worry showing in his eyes.

Reid turned his head to the side.

“What is it?” Hotch asked.

“What if we're thinking about this wrong? What if their looks are what ties them together.”

“They are all feminine looking.” Morgan commented, replaying what he'd told Reid in his head. He thought a moment and continued. “Most of these victims have been taken at night, right? What if he meets them somewhere, strikes up a conversation with them and then decides they're what he's after?”

“It would make sense.” Hotch replied.

“Ok then. So what else could these men possibly have in common?” Morgan asked.

-x-

_Matt woke up._

“ _Where the hell am I?” His victim asked aloud._

“ _Don't worry. It'll be over soon and then you'll be one less reminder.” Jimmy told him._

“ _What are you talking about?” Matt asked him. He shifted and found that his hands and feet were tied to a bed._

_He glanced around at his surroundings. The room was dark and dingy looking. The window was covered with a dark curtain, and there was an unmistakable draft across his legs._

“ _What the fu-why am I naked!?” Matt looked at Jimmy, who sat in the rooms only chair, staring at him tied to the bed. “Dude, I told you I'm not gay!”_

“ _Oh I'm not either.” Jimmy continued to stare at him._

_Matt's heart beat rapidly. Newspaper articles flashed through his mind. Feminine men were being murdered. Matt swallowed hard._

“ _Are you the one that's been murdering those guys? The ones that all looked like girls?” Matt asked hesitantly. If he was gonna die, he wanted to know now._

_Jimmy tilted his head and looked at him calmly while a smile slowly spread across his face. “Yes I'm the one that everyone's looking for.”_

_Matt closed his eyes and breathed deeply trying to remember what had happened to the others before they died. If he remembered correctly they were beaten and raped. Matt relaxed his body. He was in for one hell of a time before it was all over._


	9. The End (Part 3)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter does contain non-graphic violence and non-graphic rape.

_Matt laid there. Maybe it wouldn't be as bad as he thought. Maybe there was the chance that the police were going to find him before this psycho could kill him._

" _What am I thinking?" Matt asked himself. I'm dead, I just haven't reached that point yet._

_The first blow stung the most. Jimmy punched him full on in the stomach. Matt wasn't even able to curl up or try to protect himself because of the restraints holding his limbs._

_His breath caught in his throat as tears stung his eyes. He'd never really played contact sports when he was younger and he wasn't used to pain of any kind. This was all a brand new experience, each hit made him feel like his insides were being liquefied. He hoped that eventually he'd go numb or pass out from the pain._

_The way it was going, it wasn't likely. Jimmy seemed to have a lot of practice in knowing when to stop so that the pain would dull down just enough and he'd stay fully conscious._

" _Why?" Matt asked, managing to get the word out passed bruised lips._

" _Hm." Jimmy muttered, looking over at the man he'd taken as he unwrapped the bandages from around his hands. These ones were all blood stained and needed to be changed for the next round. "Why indeed?"_

_He paused a moment as he removed the last of the bandages and grabbed a chair. Taking a seat he continued. "Oh I don't know."_

_Matt tried to swallow and cringed at the pain. The entire left side of his face was bruised and swollen. He was surprised that his jaw wasn't broken. "You said the other day that I'd be one less reminder, so I know you know why you do this."_

_Jimmy had a surprised expression on his face. "I said that, did I?" His voice was calm and collected, almost icy, Matt noted._

" _Yes, you did." He couldn't keep talking much longer. The pain was starting to radiate down into his neck and throat now._

" _Well maybe I do." Jimmy started wrapping new bandages around his hands. Both men were silent for a while. Finally Jimmy stood back up and walked over. "Maybe, if you're just lucky enough, I'll tell you before I kill you Matt."_

_Matt looked at the man with fear and hatred in his eyes. Matt had never been lucky in his life and wasn't betting that his luck would start now._

-x-

"Do we know where each of these victims disappeared from?" Hotch asked.

"As best we can tell, they were all near a bar or club when they disappeared." JJ answered.

"What about this last victim, Matt Greene?" Hotch looked over at the board and what they'd put together about him.

"Uh, he disappeared from The Hardware Bar, a little place in the next town over. Morgan and Reid are on their way there now to question the staff. See if they saw anything the night he disappeared." Emily replied.

"Ok. JJ are we ready to release the profile yet?" Hotch wanted that profile out as soon as possible. The sooner they caught this guy, the better their chances of finding Matt.

-x-

"Here's the place." Reid said spotting the sign.

Morgan pulled into a parking space and they got out of the car. Heading over towards the small bar and grill they noticed a small security camera placed on a telephone poll facing the entrance to the establishment. Morgan pointed up and said, "Could be the break we've been looking for."

"Maybe." Reid agreed.

Walking through the door, the two were assaulted by a number of smells: burgers cooking, lemon floor cleaner and a woman's perfume, dark and musky. They walked over to the bar where a woman stood taking inventory of the bottles under the counter.

She looked up and smiled. Placing her pad on a shelf under the counter she asked, "Hi there. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Miss we're from the Behavioral Analysis Unit with the FBI and we were wondering if you could answer a few of our questions." Morgan asked her as he and Reid showed her their badges.

"What does the FBI need my help for?" she asked suspiciously.

"There was a man that disappeared a few days ago and this was his last known location. Were you working last Sunday night?" Reid told her.

She looked at him hard. "Yeah, I was here. I always work the weekend."

Reid pulled a photo of Matt Greene from his pocket and handed it over for her to look at. "Do you remember seeing this man that night?"

She smiled when she saw the man in the picture then looked back up at the two of them, concern on her face. "This is Matt. He's a regular here, comes in once a week. You said he's missing?"

"That's right Miss." Morgan confirmed.

"Oh wow. He's such a nice guy too. Poor guy comes in once a week, orders a beer, finds a pretty girl to hit on, always gets rejected, and then gets another couple of beers and sits here at the bar wallowing in his misery. Except...well it was a little strange." she told them, handing the photo back over to Reid.

"What's a little strange?" he asked her, placing the photo back into his jacket pocket.

"Last Sunday, he started his usual routine – he ordered a beer, found a girl and hit on her, but this guy started telling him to back off. Called him a fairy."

"Was there a confrontation between them?" Morgan questioned.

"No." she told them, shaking her head. "He just walked over to the corner and sat at one of the tables instead. I think he did move to another table and was talking with some guy though. I'd never seen him in here before. He left a couple of minutes later – the guy I mean, not Matt. Matt had another couple of beers like normal and then left."

"Could you describe this man?" Morgan asked, pulling out a notepad.

"Tall, kinda built, white. And he had darker hair, but it's too dark in that corner to see much so I don't know if it was brown or black. Mm, he was wearing a hoodie with a logo on it, it looked like something he maybe got from a gym."

"That's a lot of details to remember for it being a guy you'd never seen before." Reid wondered.

"Well I made sure to make note of him, cause he was hot. Like this guy would probably make a killing as a male model. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"We noticed that there's a security camera out front. We're gonna need a copy of that tape from Sunday night." Morgan told her.

"Yeah, anything you need."

-x-

Hotch stepped away from the gathering and into the empty office as he answered his cell. "Morgan, what did you find?"

"Our missing person was seen talking with a guy that physically fits the profile shortly before he disappeared. Reid and I sent a copy of a surveillance tape from outside the bar to Garcia and we're on our way back now." he replied. "Has the profile been released yet?"

Hotch looked through the office window at the gathering of officers. "JJ's out there now." he told him.

"Alright. We should be back shortly." Morgan told him before hanging up.

-x-

JJ looked at the gathering of officers. "We're looking for a white male, somewhere in his mid-20's to mid-30's. He's highly intelligent and highly organized and probably has a job somewhere that would show off his personality."

"What do you mean by that?" a young officer sitting to one side asked.

"He's people-friendly. We believe that he gets to know his victims a little before he takes them. He's probably charming, and kind and that puts these men at ease. They like him and are willing to either go with him or meet him somewhere alone." she responded.

"How could you know that?" someone else asked.

"We don't for sure, but it's the most likely choice. It's how others like Ted Bundy worked; you're much more likely to willingly go with someone you think might be a friend rather than someone who's cold and uncaring." JJ told him. "What we do know is that this man most likely suffered some form of major trauma in his past and subsequently some form of identity disorder. We know this because of what he does to his victims."

"How?" the first officer who'd spoken questioned.

"His victims are a substitute for himself. By beating their face in beyond recognition he can get rid of the part of himself that he doesn't like. These men are all effeminate, so we believe that the unsub was at one point as well. He also rapes them, most likely because that's what happened to him. He's no longer a victim to his abuser, but these men have now taken his place." JJ looked around the room.

"He would also need somewhere private to do what he does. The beating he gives these men would be exceedingly painful yet no one has heard anything. This suggest that our unsub either has a cabin out in the woods somewhere, or is renting one. Are there any other questions?"

Silence was the only sound in the room. She continued, "Thank you for your time." Slowly everyone went back to what they were doing and JJ turned around to face Hotch.

"Any word from the others?" she asked.

"Morgan and Reid are on their way back now and Rossi and Prentiss are on their way to speak to the missing man's sister." Hotch answered her.

She nodded and looked up. The clock was counting down for their missing man. Let's just hope they could find him in time.

-x-

_He was pretty sure he had a broken rib or two, something that Jimmy hadn't counted on while he was pummeling away at the face of the defenseless man because he'd actually passed out from the pain. Once he'd woken up, he couldn't stop coughing._

" _Drink up." The words helped bring Matt around._

_Matt tried to shake his head, but his swollen jaw hurt too much to allow much movement. He could barely even open his lips wide enough to fit the straw through. Delicious, cool water slid down towards his stomach, bringing with it relief from the stinging in his throat. The relief was momentary though, as one of his legs was yanked roughly from the rope that held it to the bed. The other leg was removed from its restraint as well._

_Searing pain raced through his chest and lungs as his legs were both shoved up over his head and tied to the headboard. A scream bubbled up passed his teeth._

" _Go ahead and scream all you want. No one is ever going to hear you."_

_Jimmy pushed into Matt roughly, and a whole new world of pain coursed through his body. His lungs burned as they tried to push the air out to scream, his throat felt raw from coughing despite the drink of water he'd gotten and he was almost positive he could taste blood in his mouth._

-x-

Rossi knocked loudly on the door. The small house sat on a quiet street. A little girl answered the door and both Rossi and Emily smiled at her.

"Hi there sweetie, is your mom home?" Emily asked, leaning over so she was eye to eye with the little girl.

She turned and shouted into the house, "Mom! There's some people here to see you!"

A tall, blond woman rushed over towards the door and pulled her daughter back. "Honey, how many times have I told you not to answer the door like that. Now go ahead and play with Danny."

The little girl ran off and the woman stepped forward, blocking the doorway and looked at the two agents standing on her front stoop. "How can I help you?" she asked.

"Are you Regina Wittle?" Rossi asked.

"Yes I am. Now, how can I help you. Please, make it quick, I don't want to leave the children by themselves too long." she replied tersely.

"Mrs. Wittle, I'm Special Agent Emily Prentiss and this is Special Agent David Rossi, we're with the Behavioral Analysis Unit at the FBI. You reported your brother missing three days ago, is that correct?" Emily kept her voice soft so as not to worry the woman. They held their badges up as proof.

"Miss Prentiss, you said your name was?" Regina asked looking from their badges to their faces. Emily nodded. "Would you two like to come in." Her voice had warmed to them a little at the mention of her brother.

They followed her into the house, looking around at family photos and trophies from youth soccer leagues as they made their way to the kitchen. "Can I get you anything to drink?" Regina asked them, to which they both declined.

"I'm sorry about my rudeness at the door. My husband made some bad choices, borrowed some money from the wrong people and of course, as cliched as it might sound, wasn't able to pay it back on time. He left about ten months ago. I woke up one morning and he was just gone: nothing but a note left saying goodbye." Regina looked down into the cup of tea she'd started making for herself as she'd spoken.

"You seem like you're doing pretty well. That's not something a lot of single mothers could handle." Rossi commended her.

"Well, Matt's been good to us. He's a therapist and he makes pretty good money. When he offered to help me out after Micah left, I refused at first. He's my brother, I couldn't take money from him. But eventually the bills started piling up and I had to go to him. He's really been a God send to us." Regina poured hot water into her cup, placing a teabag in the water to soak.

"When did you first realize that your brother was missing?" Emily asked her.

"Monday morning. He was supposed to stop by to help me fix a leaking pipe in the bathroom and he never called, never showed up. That wasn't like him at all. He's always helping others,  _always._  It's one of the things that his patients love about him the most. They know they can always count on him being there, no matter what. So when he didn't show up that morning, I put the kids on the bus and drove over to his place. He wasn't there, his car wasn't there, and his neighbor said they hadn't seen him since the night before."

"Did they know where he went?" Rossi wondered.

Regina pulled the teabag from the cup and started fixing her tea. She continued as she placed the lid back on the sugar bowl, "They didn't, but I did. Every week Matt went to this little bar out of town, The Hardware Bar. I made sure I mentioned that when I went to the police."

"And that was after you'd called his office to make sure he wasn't there?" Emily asked.

"Yeah." Regina answered. "His secretary said he hadn't been in all morning and subsequently had to cancel all his appointments for the day."

"Mommy! Bella hit me with one of my blocks!" a little boy screamed as he came running into the room.

Regina sighed and bent down to inspect the little boy. "You'll be fine. Now get going and I'll head in in a minute to deal with her."

The little boy ran off and Regina turned back towards Emily and Rossi. "Was there anything else you wanted to know?"

"Was there anyone special in his life?" Rossi asked.

"No." Regina blew across her tea and took a sip. "The last real relationship that Matt had was in high school. It was why he always went to the bar. He hoped to maybe meet someone one day. I kept telling him to try online dating."

"Mrs. Wittle, I don't want to worry you, but we believe that your brother may be the latest victim in a series of serial murders." Emily told her.

Regina sat her cup down on the counter-top. She looked down as she spoke, "That's what I was afraid of." Emily reached over and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "As soon as I found out he was missing that was my first thought. Those murders are basically all that's been in the news." Tears threatened to fall and Emily could see Regina's lip quivering.

"Mommy!" Danny's voice called from the other room. "Bella won't give me my blocks back!"

Regina took another large sip of tea, swiped her hand across her eyes and sighed loudly. "I'm sorry, but if that's everything, I need to get back to keeping my children from killing each other." she said, her voice wavering gently.

"We won't keep you any longer. If you do think of anything else that could be useful, please give us a call." Rossi said, handing a card to her. She showed them to door just as they heard the little girl calling out to her mother, something about a drink being spilled all over her favorite shirt and how it was all her brother's fault.

"Sometimes, I am glad I don't have kids." Emily commented, earning a chuckle from Rossi. "God, I can't imagine what it must be like, finding out your brother's missing and fearing the worst, only to have that fear come true."

"She seems strong, she'll get through it." Rossi responded.

He pulled his phone out from his pocket and dialed. Hotch picked up after the second ring. "Hotch, we just got done talking with the sister. Her story matched the police report."

"It was worth checking into it. The profile was just given to the cops and Morgan and Reid are on their way back now. Garcia has a copy of surveillance footage from outside the bar." Hotch replied.

"We're on our way."

-x-

_Matt laid there. Jimmy was pushing into him, harder and harder. Pain shot all through his body, from the very base of him where Jimmy shoved himself in, all the way up to his head. Bruises had started forming all across his face and it was getting harder to breathe. He was definitely tasting blood in his mouth. As best he could tell, there was at least one broken rib and it had probably just barely punctured a lung. He could feel a heaviness in his chest and it was getting harder to breathe._

" _This is it." Matt thought. "I'm going to die and there's nothing anyone can do about it."_

_Eventually the pain dulled down. Things were starting to go black. His heart pounded in his ears, but his breathing was way to slow to support it. Matt closed his eyes and let everything go._

-x-

"Alright, here's the security footage." Garcia told the others gathered in the office as an image of the bar popped up on screen. "At just after 10 PM our missing man left the bar. You can see that he get's stopped here in the parking lot, just on the edge of the camera's line of sight. From what we can see, whoever stops him also knocked him out and drug him off screen."

"Ok, the bartender we talked to said that the guy he was talking to left shortly before he did. Garcia, can you rewind the tape a little?" Morgan asked.

"Anything for you darling." Garcia said, tapping a few of her keys. The video rewound a few minutes until Morgan pointed out the guy the bartender had described.

"There he is. Tall, white, dark hair, and a hoodie. Garcia, can you zoom in on either that logo or his face?" Morgan said as he stepped closer to the screen.

"No can do. The resolution on this system isn't good enough and I have no way of clearing it up. I may be good, but I can't work miracles." Garcia said, shaking her head.

"Garcia, are there any traffic cams in that area? Something facing the parking lot maybe?" Hotch wondered.

"I will check and get back to you in a minute." she told him.

JJ walked into the office. "Guys, we just found another body."

-x-

_Jimmy stood amid the crowd, his hood covering his head and shadowing his face. Matt had died way too quickly. It was unexpected. It was sloppy._

_It wasn't satisfying enough._

_He needed another. One more and he'd be able to get rid of the past. Just one more._

_The body drop had been sloppy too. The police were now surrounding Matt's body. That was when he spotted **him**. Tall, brown hair, thin, highly effeminate._

_"Just one more." Jimmy murmured to himself._

 


	10. The End (Part 4)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things start taking a turn for the worse in regards to the case the BAU is working on. Can the team catch the killer before it's too late for one of their own?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Criminal Minds.
> 
> This ending was not supposed to be this long and drawn out, I swear. But, I figure it's better if I do it in little batches anyway because then you guys get it sooner and I don't have to worry about not posting something for it for months on end.
> 
> So anyway, read and enjoy. Things are starting to get intense now.

_Jimmy stood watching the team members work. Unfortunately he was too far away to hear anything that they might be saying, but their words didn't matter to him. What did matter was the man. **Him.**_

_He stood with the others. In between talking and examining the body he kept glancing over at one of the others. A man; almost as tall as himself, dark skinned, shaved head. Very handsome by most standards._

_ What he found most interesting though was that the darker man kept glancing over at  **him** as well. _

_ After several minutes of gesturing  that clearly went along with the conversation among the group, the y left the crime scene.  **He** and the darker man walked over to one vehicle and climbed in. A quick kiss was shared between them and he felt sick to his stomach. _

_This one couldn't even claim that he wasn't gay. He really could be the last. He'd finally found the one he needed. The one to complete the transformation._

_ Once  **he** was gone, then he'd be free. _

_Then he'd be normal and all his problems would be gone._

_ He rushed over to his car and hopped in, being sure to keep  their SUV in sight. He wanted to be sure he got him tonight. _

-x-

Reid  looked out the window of  the SUV on the way back to the police station.  Morgan glanced over at him as they sat at a red light.

“Spence,” Morgan said, his voice filled with worry, “I don't like this.”

Reid looked at the other man. “What don't you like?”

“Everything about this case.” He lifted his foot of the brake as the light turned green and they continued forward. “This last victim...our guy is either upping his time table or he's becoming increasingly violent.”

“Well we won't really know more until the autopsy is done.”

“Spence, you know what I mean.” Morgan glanced at him. He placed his hand on Reid's leg and squeezed gently.

Reid placed his own hand over it. He smiled at Morgan. “I know what you mean, and don't worry, I'll be ok. We're going to get this guy.”

“I know we will.” Morgan answered. He pulled his hand away and adjusted his rear view mirror.

They pulled into the  m otel parking lot and got out of the car. The autopsy wouldn't be back for a couple of hours and it would take at least that long to catalog and process the evidence from the crime scene.

They walked towards the motel door and  Morgan paused for a moment, looking at the doorway to the bar  across the street . “I'm gonna grab a drink. You go ahead , I'll be there in a little bit.”

“Are you sure you should be drinking?” Reid asked.

“There's nothing else we can do for now.” Morgan responded. “I just wanna clear my head for a couple of minutes.”

Reid nodded and walked away. Morgan's hand grabbed his wrist and tugged him back around. Dark eyes looked into Reid's. “I love you.”

Reid smiled. “I know. I love you too.” He pecked him on the lips quick and walked  into the motel.

-x-

_ Jimmy walked into the  m otel  just minutes after the two had separated, leaving  **him** all alon e. _

_ H e followed him, staying far enough behind and out of sight. _

_**He** walked up to the door. He could hear the jingling of the keys as the door was unlocked. His target walked through the doorway, leaving Jimmy alone in the hall. _

_ Jimmy waited a moment and walked up to the door. He collected himself and knocked on the door. There was a pause. _

“ _Who is it?” the voice called through the door._

_ He knew that  **he'd** be cautious. He was a member of FBI. He'd been able to hear that much from the talk around him. That didn't matter. What did matter was his death. _

“ _My name's Jimmy. This is gonna sound really weird, but is there any way I can use your phone? My cell is dead and my girlfriend is out and I forgot to get our room key from her. I gotta call her so she can drop it off.”_

_ There was a momentary pause. “Why not just use the phone at the desk?” _

“ _The guy at the desk is a jerk. We've been here for a week and he's tried charging us extra for everything he possibly could. I'd really rather avoid getting a ten dollar “convenience charge” for using the phone there, cause I really wouldn't put it past him.”_

_ Jimmy stood there, looking as innocent as possible. He knew that this guy would be checking him out through the peephole because he'd be on his guard. _

_ That was the problem with his target being police. They knew the ropes and he'd have to be on his own guard. But this was the last one. This last one and he'd be whole again. _

_ Finally the door opened; not much, but just enough that  **he** was able to push his hand out with a cell phone. Jimmy could see that the chain lock on the inside was still locked. _

“ _Thanks.” Jimmy told him, reaching out for the phone. He grabbed hold of **his** hand when he grabbed the phone and jerked hard.  He heard the other mans head thump against the door and a mumbled groan. Pulling hard on **his** arm again, he slammed the other mans head into the door once more. He let and shoved his shoulder against the door, breaking the chain.  He looked down at the tall man._

_ 'Finally.' Jimmy thought. 'All of this can come to an end.' _

_ He picked the other man up and carried him away, going down the fire escape and taking the long way around the building to where he'd parked his car. _

-x-

Morgan walked out of the bar. He'd decided to not have a drink after all and had spent ten minutes sitting at the bar drinking a soda, staring mindlessly at the TV. He'd been forced to leave when the news came on and the head story was their latest victim.

He walked across the street and walked into the motel. He got to the doorway and panic flooded through him at the sight of the open doorway.

Morgan rushed into the room and searched around, finding it empty. Everything was still in it's place, but Reid was nowhere to be found. He pulled his phone out and called Hotch.

“What is it Morgan?” Hotch said, answering the phone.

“Reid is gone. I left him alone for ten minutes, and now he's gone.” Morgan turned back towards the doorway. He spotted a splotch of blood on the back of the door. “Hotch, I got blood on the door.”

“Don't touch anything. Stay right there and I'll call the police chief and have a crime unit there as soon as possible. I'll be there in five minutes.”

-x-

Hotch got to Morgan and Reid's room and stopped. Morgan sat outside in the hallway, head hung between his hands.

“Did you touch anything?” Hotch questioned.

Morgan looked up at him, eyes rimmed in red. “No.”

“We will find him.” Hotch told him.

“Hey.” JJ said, walking up to the two.

Garcia walked up to Morgan and kneeled down next to him. “Sweetie, I'm so sorry.” She put her arms around Morgan and held him.

“I was just across the street. He was only alone for ten minutes.” Morgan said, his voice quivering. “I was afraid that something like this was gonna happen.”

“Why were you across the street?” Hotch questioned.

“I know I shouldn't have, but I was in the bar. I was going to get a drink. I didn't though, I ended up just having a soda. But I still shouldn't have left him alone.”

“You had no way of knowing this could happen.” Hotch tried to comfort him. “We'll deal with your foray later.”

Morgan could only nod.

“Let's head back over to the police station and add Reid's information to what we already know.” Emily suggested.

“I'll stop at the desk and ask for the surveillance footage. Maybe we caught a better look at the guy.” Hotch said.

Morgan stayed silent. Angry tears threatened to spill over his cheeks.

-x-

_ Twenty minutes later... _

Morgan stood there staring at the board they had set up. How had they let this happen. How had **he** let this happen.

Again.

Morgan shook his head and slammed his fist onto the table in front of him. If anything happened to Reid he'd never forgive himself.

That was the moment he realized that nothing else mattered. The moment he realized that he'd do  **anything** to get him back safe and sound, regardless of the consequences.

 


	11. The End (Part 5)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The exciting conclusion the story. Reid has been abducted and Morgan is going to do everything in his power to get him back. How will things turn out?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Criminal Minds.
> 
> Disclaimer 2: This chapter contains somewhat graphic depictions of rape.
> 
> So I hope you enjoy this last chapter. Comments telling me how it was are always appreciated.

Hotch walked up behind Morgan. He looked at the darker man standing there, staring at the board.  
“Why did you leave Reid alone?” he asked.  
“Hotch, I already told you. I went for a drink. I broke the rules and I know I shouldn't have,” Morgan told him, voice thick with emotion, “so don't you dare give me a lecture. I've got more than enough to deal with now.”  
Hotch looked down and then took a step closer, turning Morgan around to face him. “Morgan, I'm going to have to take you off this case. You and Reid have an intimate relationship and I feel that it's going to cloud your judgment on this case.”  
“Hotch, don't you do this to me.” Morgan shook his head. More tears threatened to fall. “Don't do this. You need every one of us to catch this son of a bitch.”  
“We're close enough that I think you can sit the rest of this case out.”  
Morgan shook his head. “Goddammit Hotch.”  
“I'm not forcing you to leave town. I know you'll want to be here when we get Reid back. But if I find out you're not staying away from this case, I will have to report you.”  
Morgan stayed silent.  
“Do you understand me?” Hotch asked.  
“Yeah, I got you.” Morgan replied, storming away from Hotch and out of the police station.  
Emily walked up behind Hotch and asked, “What was that all about?”  
“I just told Morgan that he's off the case.” Hotch answered.  
“He looks like he took it well.” Emily replied.  
“Let's just get Reid back safe and sound. I'll deal with Morgan later.” Hotch said as he walked back towards their information board.  
-x-  
Morgan walked out of the police station, not really sure what he was going to do or where he was going to go. He looked around at the handful of people walking up and down the street. He turned back towards the building and slammed his fist against the wall, taking comfort in the pain that radiated through his hand.  
Shaking the pain out, he walked towards his car. Getting in, he drove back to the motel, stopping to pick up a local map on his way.  
Morgan walked into his motel room and placed the map down onto the bed. He caught a glance of some of Reid's clothes strewn across the other bed and took a deep breath.  
He focused his attention back to the map and started marking off places to look with the information that they'd already gathered.  
-x-  
“What do we know about Matt Greene's life?” Hotch asked staring at the map.  
“Pretty routine. He went to the same bar every week, he went to work, occasionally would hang out with friends or family.” Emily replied.  
“What time is his family supposed to be here?” Hotch questioned.  
JJ looked down at her watch. “His sister said she'd be here within the hour.”  
“I want to speak to her when she gets here.” he answered.  
-x-  
 _Reid's eyes fluttered opened. The room was dimly lit. Feeling slowly began to return to his limbs and he discovered that he was tied to a bed, stripped down to nothing. His heartbeat raced and his breathing was thready. It had been several years since he'd been kidnapped and tortured by Tobias Hankel, but Reid had never really been the same after that occurrence._  
 _Light flooded the room as a door on Reid's right opened and a dark shadow entered the room._  
 _A face came into view: handsome, lighter bone structure but still a strong looking face, short, dark hair, deep brown eyes._  
 _The rest of the profile clicked into place in Reid's mind. The victims were replacements for this man. By killing each of the victims, he would be getting rid of that part of himself that he hated._  
 _Reid cleared his throat. “I know why you do it.”_  
 _“Do you now?” Jimmy asked him, voice calm and collected. “So, FBI guy, why do I do it?” he pulled a chair over and glared down at Reid._  
 _Reid nervously licked his lips before answering. “Each victim, each person you take, they represent a part of yourself. Something you despise.”_  
 _Jimmy stood and punched Reid in the face knocking his head to the side and straining the muscles in his neck._  
 _He turned back to face his captor and continued, eyes defiant despite his fear and panic. “You suffered some sort of major trauma, most likely abuse from your father or a father figure because of your appearance and by seeking these men out and killing them, you can kill that part of you that they abused you for, the part that no amount of exercise and physical fitness can get rid of.”_  
 _Jimmy hit Reid again and this time he tasted blood on his tongue. He was right and he knew it._  
 _Jimmy flexed his hand. “Anything else?” he smirked._  
 _“I know that you think you're going to kill me.”_  
 _“What do you mean, 'I think' I'm going to kill you?” he tilted his head to one side._  
 _“My team is gonna find me before you get the chance. My guess is that Matt's death was an accident. He died before you could properly torture that section of your past out of yourself.” Reid took a deep breath and steadied himself. “You're going to be more careful with me. And that carefulness is going to give them the time to find you and me.”_  
 _Jimmy laughed. “Well smart guy, let's just see.” He brought his fist down on Reid's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Pain surged through Reid's body and memories flashed through his head of another dark time._  
 _They'd saved him then. Despite what he'd just told his captor the probability that another rescue like that would happen wasn't very high._  
 _And Reid was a man that lived his life believing in nothing but facts and statistics._  
-x-  
“Hey, baby girl, is there any chance that you can run a trace on Reid's phone for me?” Morgan asked.  
“Hotch already had me run one and the signal's dead. I have no clue where he is.”  
“Can you tell me where the signal stops?” he continued.  
“A few blocks from the hotel. Why are you asking me? Hotch should have told you this already.” Garcia questioned.  
“Thanks Garcia.” Morgan hung up the phone, ignoring her question and continued walking down the street.  
He called Reid's phone. It rang continuously until finally his voice mail picked up. Shutting the phone, he put it back in his pocket. He was getting nowhere and it was making him upset which was making him sloppy. What did he know about this guy?  
He knew that this guy took feminine men, he knew that he tortured and killed them. He knew that he'd need somewhere private, somewhere secluded. None of the victims had any drugs in their system, so he knew that they could feel everything that was being done to them. He knew that there probably was no sexual satisfaction from the killings, or even the torture itself: the rape was a way to demean these men; to make them inferior.  
It clicked in his head, the thing they'd been missing: he made them inferior to make them substitutes for someone and since they were men, they were probably substitutes for himself.  
He pulled his phone back out and called Garcia back. “Hey, I need you to run a search for me.”  
“Go ahead.”  
“I need you to check local records for cases of child abuse, specifically one or both parents physically abusing a son. Check records going back ten to fifteen years.” Morgan tried to keep his voice calm.  
“I'll call you back in a couple minutes with what I find.” she told him.  
-x-  
Before searching she called Hotch. “Hey, is Derek with you?”  
“No. He's been taken off the case. Why do you ask?” Hotch wondered.  
“Cause there's a search he wants me to run and I know he's worried about Reid and I want to get him back too but things don't seem right with him and I'm worried.” Garcia told him in a rush of breath.  
“Can you call him back and have me on conference with you? This way I can hear everything that goes on between you two.”  
“Easy as pie.” Garcia paused a moment before continuing with her search. “Please don't be hard on him.”  
“We'll see.” Hotch replied.  
-x-  
“What do you got?” Morgan said, answering his phone.  
“I have six cases of child abuse, and two that fit that your criteria.” Garcia told him.  
“What can you tell me about them?” he asked.  
“The first is a guy named John Steltz, he used to knock his wife and teenage son around when he was drunk. One night he killed his wife and is doing twenty years in prison. Son went to a foster family and graduated from UCLA two years ago, he now lives in Santa Barbara.”  
“And what about the other one?” Morgan kept his fingers crossed. This one might very well be it.  
“Father, Micah Ferguson would beat his son James. Apparently Mom would sometimes hit him too. When James was fifteen he killed both his parents with a kitchen knife. He spent three years in a facility for traumatized and abused teenagers until he turned eighteen and was released. Morgan, he lives ten miles outside of town. Sending the address to your phone now.” Garcia swallowed.  
“Thank you baby girl.” Morgan told her, hanging up.  
-x-  
Once off the phone with Morgan, Garcia spoke again. “Did you hear all that?”  
“Yeah I did Garcia. Thanks for letting me know.” Hotch answered her.  
She hoped they could save Reid before something terribly bad happened, but there was this horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach that told her nothing was going to be the same again.  
-x-  
Morgan rushed back to his car. Reid had to be there. He was gonna get his boyfriend back. He just hoped he'd be in time.  
-x-  
 _Reid's lip trembled. He'd done a good job so far of keeping himself together, but he was starting to break. His lip was busted, a tooth had been knocked loose, he was having trouble breathing, mostly because he was hyperventilating. He'd never fully gotten past Hankel no matter what the psychiatrist had said._  
 _At the very least he knew there were going to by physical scars this time._  
 _Tears threatened to roll down his cheeks. He didn't really want to give this guy the satisfaction of knowing he'd been broken, but soon he wasn't going to have much choice._  
 _The ties around Reid's legs were loose enough that Jimmy could fit right in the space between them, but Reid couldn't do anything else. Pain bloomed in his lower back as the head of Jimmy's cock pushed through the tight ring of muscle._  
 _Reid couldn't stop the wail that seeped from between his gritted teeth. Jimmy pushed in farther and soon Reid was crying out in pain._  
 _Fingers dug into his slim hips as Jimmy pushed himself in farther and farther._  
 _The only thing Reid wished for was for all of it to be over._  
-x-  
Morgan pulled up to the cabin. It was exactly the type of place that they were looking for: permanent and secluded. He got out of the SUV and slowly made his way towards the home.  
Pulling his gun out, he checked the door. To his dismay it was locked. Morgan walked around to the side and found the back door open. He stepped through and quietly searched around the room. He knew Reid was here. He could feel it in his gut and his gut was never wrong.  
-x-  
Hotch raced through town. They had to get to James Ferguson's residence as soon as possible. If Morgan made it there before them, who knew what would happen. Especially if he believed that Reid was there.  
-x-  
 _Jimmy pulled out of Reid and stood over him. He tilted his head to the side and stared down at the man. “You know you're disgusting, right? You let that man fuck you. You fucking fairy. You're a disappointment to men everywhere and you brought this on yourself.” he said, slamming his fist into Reid's side._  
 _A scream escaped Reid's throat and Jimmy used his open mouth to shove his cock down into the tightness of Reid's throat._  
 _Reid started coughing and sputtering as Jimmy grabbed a hold of the long brown hair, pulling and yanking Reid's head up and down the length of his dick._  
-x-  
Morgan heard a scream come from across the house. He dropped his guard and ran, gun pointed forward.  
He pushed doors open, one after another, until finally he found Reid and his anger boiled over. Reid was tied to the bed with their guy, the guy who'd taken him, over him, pushing himself in and out of his boyfriend's mouth.  
Morgan yelled over to the guy, “Hey. Asshole. That's my boyfriend you've got.”  
Jimmy looked over at Morgan and moved his hips faster.  
-x-  
Both vehicles pulled up behind Morgan's SUV. Hotch got out of the car just as the sound of two gunshots rang out from the cabin.  
The team rushed forward, knocking the door down and entering into the home. They cleared each room they got to until they found Morgan untying Reid.  
Morgan was whispering to Reid, “Shhh, it's ok Spence, it's ok. It's over now. You're safe.”  
All Reid did was curl into a ball and sob.  
On the ground next to the bed was the body of Jimmy Ferguson.  
-x-  
 _Two weeks later..._  
“Derek Morgan, after thoroughly reviewing all of the evidence this disciplinary committee finds you guilty of conducting an interoffice affair, ignoring the direct orders of your superior officer and interfering with an ongoing investigation that your BAU team was consulting on. As such, you are temporarily suspended, without pay, until the mental and physical health of your team member, Spencer Reid, can be fully determined. If you wish to contest any of these charges against you, please talk to your union representative. During your suspension, I would ask that you turn in your badge and gun.” the woman at the head of the table spoke.  
The words were meaningless to him. Simply put, he didn't care. Reid was still alive and that was all that mattered to him.  
-x-  
“Hey there sweetie, how are you feeling?” Garcia asked as she walked into Reid's hospital room.  
He smiled weakly at her. “Better.” His voice was thin and she knew he was lying, but he was at least putting in some effort and he'd actually started allowing some of the others in to see him.  
It was tough for them to hear the damage that had been done in the short time that Reid had been held captive: torn tissue on the inside of his body, both rectally and orally, the pulled muscles, the slightly bruised organs. Jimmy Ferguson could pack one hell of a punch.  
“Derek misses you.” she told him.  
He nodded at her. “I know.” he replied. He missed Morgan too, but there was no way he could see him just yet. He still wasn't able to sleep at night; he kept having nightmares about being taken by Ferguson. Even Hankel was mixed in some nights. Seeing Morgan now would bring all of it back up.  
“I'm tired. Tell Emily I'll call her when I get the chance.”  
It was Garcia's turn to nod. “I will.”  
-x-  
Morgan walked into the hospital. Reid had called and said he wanted to see him. It had been two weeks since he'd been suspended, a full month since he'd shot Ferguson, and this was the first he'd be seeing Reid since either.  
He knocked on the door, gently pushing it open. “Hey.” he called out.  
“Hey.” Reid smiled gently at him. “Sorry about avoiding you this last month.”  
“Don't be sorry. What you went through? I know how traumatic something like that can be.” Morgan reassured his boyfriend. “You take as much time as you need, but know that I'm here if you ever want to talk.”  
Reid smiled. “I heard that you were suspended.”  
Morgan looked down at the floor. “Yeah. My best guess is that they have me leave the BAU. I'll have to get a normal job.”  
“I'm leaving the BAU too.” Reid told him. “I've already set things up and I'll be teaching profiling classes in Quantico. Profiling is my life, but I can't stay in the field. This is the second time I've been abducted, I can barely pass the test to keep my gun and I just...” Reid paused to figure out how he wanted to word what he wanted to say. Finally he took a breath and continued, “I guess, I just can't take it anymore. All those years ago Gideon left and I was so confused as to why he did it, but now I think I truly understand his motives.”  
“I respect that. So where does that leave us?” Morgan asked him. He stared at Reid, the man he'd given everything for, the man he loved more than anything else in the world.  
“Us?” Reid asked. “What do you mean?”  
“Spence, you know just as well as I do that people in your position don't usually go back to relationships right away.” Morgan answered.  
“What I went through was traumatic and I'm going to have to deal with the scars for a while. But I hope that having you there will make things easier.”  
A half-smile spread across Morgan's face. “You really mean that?”  
Reid nodded. “Of course I do. If there's one person I want by my side to help with the nightmares, it's you.”  
Morgan sat next to Reid's bed and the two of them continued to talk until visiting hours were over.  
Finally, Morgan stood and walked towards the door. He turned around one last time and said, “You know, Clooney's going to be really happy when you finally come home.”  
“Let Clooney know that he's gonna be sleeping on the floor when I get home. Don't think I don't know that you let him into the bed when I'm not there.”  
Morgan laughed. “Spence, I love you.”  
Reid smiled. “I love you too.”  
-x-  
Reid looked up at the house. He'd finally been discharged from the hospital. Clooney bounded out the front door and started sniffing him, tail wagging wildly from side to side while Morgan stood in the doorway.  
It was the most beautiful thing he could ever wish to see.


End file.
